2021 NBA Draft: 5 of the biggest draft night winners and losers

NBA Draft Night Losers

San Antonio Spurs

Perhaps the biggest shock of the NBA draft was seeing Joshua Primo out of Alabama go 12th to the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs have built a reputation of making intelligent draft picks, but in recent years that has taken a bit of a hit.

Primo was largely predicted to be a late first-round pick. He averaged 8.1 points per game in his only college season and while his 3-point shooting ability is not in doubt, whether he can really make the step up to the NBA is.

He has to become a better shot creator and ball-handler to warrant going in the lottery and did not really show enough in college to suggest he is going to be more than a role player.

But Primo can of course use this as motivation. The 12th pick has been among the most criticized in this draft, and he has the opportunity to prove a ton of people wrong. He can contribute, but given the Spurs already have a lot of non-star wings and with the exit of DeMar DeRozan looking likely, this was a Draft for San Antonio to take a risk on a higher upside player.

Alperen Sengun would have made sense, and Moses Moody or Corey Kispert would have been better wing options at 12. It would be surprising if the Spurs did not at least try to move up from the 12th spot in this Draft and simply could not make it happen, but this team desperately needs a player to plan the future around.

Steph Curry

The Golden State Warriors have been in a very unusual spot the past couple of seasons. Steve Kerr’s team ended up with the second pick in last year’s Draft following a disastrous injury-hit season and took a high upside but raw big man in James Wiseman over LaMelo Ball, then ended up with two lottery picks this year thanks to the D’Angelo Russell trade.

That is despite still harboring hopes of another title push when Klay Thompson returns and with Steph Curry still at the peak of his powers. The team has been in a position to take young talent for the future, while also trying to win now.

Many thought the two lottery picks would form part of a trade for someone that could help the team better contend for a title next season. Instead, it ended up with another extremely raw but high upside player in Jonathan Kuminga who will need a lot of time to develop on the court, and another player that needs to grow his offensive game in Moody.

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Both do not instantly make the Warriors a better team, and with just a few years left in Curry’s career, there is pressure to get him players that can help him, Thompson and Draymond Green in the short term.

Perhaps this is all part of a wider plan to flip Kuminga, Moody, Wiseman and Wiggins in a blockbuster trade, say for a Bradley Beal. But as presently constructed this Draft did not help Curry out at all. Golden State has to decide if it is planning for the future or trying to win now.

New York Knicks (especially the fans)

The New York Knicks chose to trade away the 19th and 21st selections, moving down to 25 to take 3-and-D prospect Quentin Grimes, a player that can shoot well but is currently limited by his inability to create off the dribble.

In doing so, New York passed up on higher upside players like Keon Johnson, a freak athlete that could become a menace on the defensive end, and playmaking forward Jalen Johnson out of Duke – as well as Jones and Garuba.

These probably won’t turn out to be catastrophic errors, but Knicks fans are right to be disappointed with the outcome of the night. After such a strong last season, it would have been nice to see the team go out and be aggressive with its selections by taking some higher potential players.

Reports from various NBA journalists say the Knicks were trying to package the 19 and 21 to move up, which makes a lot of sense, so the intent appears to have been there. Ultimately though this was a night of little excitement, made worse by the fact the fans in the arena had no clue what was happening with the picks and cheered like crazy for players that won’t be pulling on the New York jersey.

Minnesota Timberwolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves barely got a mention on draft night. That’s because the team lost its pick to Golden State as part of the Russell deal, meaning it had to watch on from the sidelines as other teams had their pick of a deep draft class.

This could go down as a huge missed opportunity for Minnesota. There is plenty of talent on the roster with Russell, Karl Anthony-Towns and last year’s number one pick Anthony Edwards, but it needs more. Russell has yet to really show why he was worth the trade, and building through the draft is probably the best plan for the Wolves right now.

Kuminga is one of the most polarising players in this class, but adding him on the wing and developing him would have made a lot of sense. There were also other prospects on the board like Franz Wagner and Davion Mitchell that could have instantly helped improve its lackluster defense.

The pressure is on Minnesota to become a postseason contender again in the next couple of seasons. Acquiring Russell was a move to become a winning team but that just has not happened yet. If Kuminga goes on to become a dominant player then it will be clear that the franchise chose the wrong path, unless Russell, Towns and Edwards can make it work soon.

Sharife Cooper

The young point guard had been touted as a mid to late first-round pick by most, but somehow fell all the way to 48 where he was taken by the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA draft.

There is a lot to be worried about with Cooper. He lacks size and strength and did not show a consistent jump shot during his time at Auburn. But what he does have is an ability to create for others with his fine passing and court vision, resulting in an impressive 8.1 assists per game in his freshman season.

He also scored 20.2 points per game last year and was regarded as a top 20 high school prospect. Falling all the way into the late first round was a real surprise, and was absolutely too low for him.

Cooper will have his work cut out trying to get minutes behind superstar Trae Young, but he can learn a lot from him as a similar-sized guard that also prides himself on his playmaking.

This is a great opportunity for him to prove the teams that passed on him wrong, but his start to life in the NBA has become far from straightforward.